Overview

The doctoral programme Heritage of Portuguese Influence (Patrimónios de Influência Portuguesa - DPIP) operates in an interdisciplinary basis within the international scene, being the heritage area assuredly disciplinary. The approach used combines the analysis of Architecture, Urban Planning, Cultural Studies, Literary Studies, History, Anthropology and Sociology. The students of the programme will hold a Doctoral degree in Cultural Studies or Architecture and Urban Planning, depending on the dissertation approach.

Thanks to the agreements established during the internationalization process launched in 2013 with the support of Calouste Gulbenkian Foundatiion, students can follow their doctoral programmes in a co-tutorship regime, and thus obtain their degree from the University of Coimbra and simultaneously from one or two other universities from the Network.

The third edition of the DPIP started in February 2015 and has an international format, partnering in joint supervision regimes in Europe (University of the Algarve; University of Bologna; Paris-Ouest Nanterre La Défense University); in South America (Universidade Federal Fulminense in Brazil) and in Africa (Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique). Collaborative partnerships with UNESCO; Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation; Camões - Institute for the Cooperation and Language; Association IVERCA — Tourism, culture and environment, Maputo, Mozambique; Association Tchiweka of Documentation and Dance Studio of Angola Luanda, Angola; M_EIA (University Institute of Art, Technology and Culture) of Cape Verde are available.

DPIP students currently develop their research mission work in Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Macau, Malaysia, Morocco, Mozambique, Japan, India, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sri Lanka and Timor, as well as with Portuguese-speaking communities in the traditionally designated emigration territories.

The proposed mindset broadening ,as well as its post-colonial approach and the promotion of the north-south dialogue , places this doctoral programme at an unique, excelence level of reflection, research and scientific production in Europe. This programme, based on student and teacher mobility, aims at creating small and large teams and a critical mass capable of funding a think tank in the area of Heritage of Portuguese Influence, looking at "heritage" as a cultural and political concept. In academic terms, it turns into degrees in Cultural Studies and Architecture and Urban Planning, in a comprehensive training programme capable of producing specialized consultants for the conduction of services in these areas.

The PhD Programe in Heritage of Portuguese Influence was launched in 2010 and was accredited by the Agência de Avaliação e Acreditação do Ensino Superior (Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education - A3ES) in 2016 for a 3-year term. The programme is biannual and follows the calendar year, welcoming new students in february, every two years.

OBJECTIVES

Besides the overall advanced training objectives in the research methods and knowledge production , PhD students are expected to develop teamwork and network skills thus creating this multiplier effect of this study framework. Students are also expected to be endowed of extensive cultural frameworks on the central theme of the course, as well as on geography, the resources and the narratives which form this cultural universe. For this reason, it is crucial that they develop a solid theoretical basis about themes as “memory” and “representation”. It is crucial that they acquire skills to develop cooperation actions within the various themes and territories of the Heritages pf Portuguese Influence.

Doctoral students should have educational background and diversified curriculum in the scientific and geographic areas of origin. For this reason, the programme internationalization is important, aiming at constructiong a research network and scientific training action in the area of Heritage.

BACKGROUND

The PhD Programme in Heritage of Portuguese Influence (DPIP) arises from the interdisciplinary dialogue between several researchers of the Centre for Social Studies (CES), connecting the research lines of two of its research groups. The group Humanities, Migrations and Peace Studies and the group Cities, Cultures and Architecture, to which other Portuguese and international institutions from several subject areas have joined.

a) The previous work developed by António Sousa Ribeiro and Margarida Calafate Ribeiro in the doctoral programme “Postcolonialisms and Global Citizenship” and the work developed by António Sousa Ribeiro’ on the basic concepts of the Doctoral Programme "Cultural Heritages of Portuguese Influence", such as memory, in its various declensions, identity, testimony, inheritance, postcolonialism among others, and Margarida Calafate Ribeiros considerations on Portugal and its empire, synthesised in the book Uma História de Regressos: império, guerra colonial e pós-colonialismo [A History of Returns: empire, colonial war and post-colonialism].

b) The long term work developed by Paulo Varela Gomes and Walter Rossa on the history of Portuguese architecture and urbanism in the world, with special focus on the East, which had its first big assay during the development of the MA programme in “Architecture, Territory and Memory” at the Department of Architecture of the University of Coimbra, and as its more recent result the coordination writing of a considerable part of Património de Origem Portuguesa no Mundo: arquitetura e urbanismo [Heritage of Portuguese Origin in the World: architecture and urbanism], edited by José Mattoso and produced by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, and later on then converted into the interactive website of Heritage of Portuguese Influence/ Património de Influência Portuguesa (hpip.org).

Throughout 2009, a process was formally developed: first with the approval of the various instances of UC, followed by the process of accreditation by the Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education (A3ES) in March 2010 (Processo nº NCE/09/01387). The first edition of the programme began in 2010 (2010-2014) and the second in 2012 (2012-2016).
For the second edition of 2012, a cooperation agreement with the University of Algarve was concluded, through the Odebrecht/Capistrano de Abreu Chair, having in view the beginning of the internationalization process.

In 2013, DPIP was granted the 2013 Gulbenkian Programme Qualifying the New Generations/Innovative Projects in Education of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Award, which represented a funding for the construction of DPIP’s international version, supporting institutional meetings of the consortium, and the mobility of teachers and students, benefiting from short-term scholarships for the development of their research projects in international context.

Once its internationalisation process began, the 3rd edition of the PhD programme which began in February, 2015 (2015-2019), was associated to, in a co-tutorship regime: in Europe, to the University of Algarve, Bologna and Paris, Nanterre in South America, Universidade Federal Fluminense (Brazil); and in Africa, to Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (Mozambique).

"I arrived at CES with very limited objectives and focuses. However, I ended up engaging with a wider universe, multicultural and interdisciplinary. The Programme promotes a rich and full academic learning experience, with excellent professors, with whom I have the privilege to work."